During a week in which Cal faced the prospect of playing without premier wide receiver Keenan Allenfor the last three games of the season, the return of Tosh Lupoi to Memorial Stadium just didn't gain much traction.

Coach Jeff Tedford addressed the subject of the controversy created 10 months ago when assistant coach and star recruiter Lupoi left for Washington and took a five-star recruit with him.

"I don't think there's a vendetta there with our players," Tedford said. "This game is about us. Tosh isn't going to be wearing a helmet and pads. Tosh did a lot of good things here. He was a good coach and a good recruiter. He chose to move on. I don't begrudge him that."

Lupoi and the recruit he took with him to Seattle, safety Shaq Thompson, were on the visitors' sideline Friday night as the Huskies defeated Cal 21-13.

If there was any ire directed at Lupoi by Cal fans, it was hard to find. There were no signs or banners proclaiming the 2006 Cal alum a modern-day Benedict Arnoldfor the timing in which he switched jobs, to the detriment of his alma mater's 2012 recruiting class.

At the time of his hire by Washington coach Steve Sarkisianon Jan. 16 - two weeks before recruits signed national letters-of-intent - many Cal fans regarded Lupoi's 11th-hour move as nothing short of treachery, given that Tedford gave him his start in coaching in 2006.

Lupoi, Cal's defensive line coach at the time, left late in the 2012 recruiting process for reportedly three times what he was making on Tedford's staff.

In speaking to Seattle reporters this week, Lupoi downplayed his return to Cal to the point of giving it little to no thought.

"I haven't really thought about it, honestly," he said. "In all honesty, maybe (it's) just the way I am; for me it was a decision and then moving on. I don't know how much of a big deal (it is), or even if it was."

It was the timing of Lupoi's move that created ill will among Cal partisans, given that Thompson had more than once confirmed he would be coming to Berkeley, as his cornerback brother Syd'Quan Thompsonhad done in 2006.

"Shaq's a good kid (from) a great family," Tedford said. "Syd'Quan did a great job here. I don't have any ill feelings against Shaq."

Players on Cal's roster who were recruited by Lupoi harbored no bad feelings toward the ace recruiter, either. Leaving Cal's staff along with Lupoi was offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau. Washington's defensive coordinator, Justin Wilcox, was on Tedford's staff from 2003-05.

Defensive lineman Todd Barrsaid, "It was a business decision. I can't hate him for that. Our focus is on Washington, not one coach. ... Tosh isn't the point."